Sustainable Agricultural
Development for
Food Security and
Nutrition:
What Roles for Livestock?
A report by the CFS High Level Panel
of Experts on Food Security and
Nutrition
29 August 2016
Delia Grace
HLPE Project Team Member

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CFS reform 2009 : 2 key elements
1. CFS IS INCLUSIVE
Governments + civil society, producers, private sector,
intl. organizations (including trade and finance, WTO,
IMF), organizations and research systems (CG and
national), foundations.
2. CFS IS EVIDENCE-BASED: the HLPE
The HLPE is the science-policy interface of the CFS for
evidence-based analysis and advice to the CFS,
through an inclusive process.

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Key role of the livestock sector (1)
• Around 1/3 of global agricultural gross
production value
• Most rural households keep livestock in
developing countries (between 44 and 79 % in
seven African countries)
• In 2010, animal products (excluding fish and
seafood) globally produced 16 % of total
calories and 31 % of protein.
• Beyond ASF, livestock generates co-products
and benefits (wool, skin, manure, draught
power, store of wealth and safety nets,
landscapes…)

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Key role of the livestock sector (2)
• Largest user of land resources :
 Pastures = 26 % of global land area
 Pastures + feed crops = 80 % of ag. Land
• Major user of water resource, including
irrigation for feed crops.
• 14.5 % of GHG emissions:
 45 %: feed production and processing,
 39 %: enteric fermentation of ruminants,
 10 %: manure storage and processing, and
 6 %: processing/transporting animal products

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Livestock revolution
By 2050, to meet the expected global increase
in food demand
• Global agricultural production is expected to
increase by 60 % in volume
• Global meat production could increase by
76 % (mostly in developing countries)
• Global milk production could grow at an
annual rate of 1.8 % in developing countries
and 0.3 % in developed countries

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Health challenges
• One Health approach: better prevent zoonoses
by taking into account the links between human
health, animal health and the environment
• Animal diseases (in Africa, 35 highest priority
diseases cost USD9 billion a year – 6 % of
livestock production value)
• Human health
 Complex links between ASF, nutrition and health
 Food-borne diseases: 420 000 deaths per year,
developing countries bear 98 % of the burden.
• Antimicrobial resistance

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Example of agriculture associated AMR
Worried
welled
Hot spots
Cold spots

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Poor access, avoidable animal death, contributes to
persistent poverty
Africa: every year one in two young
animals and one in five adult
animals die, mostly of preventable
disease.

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Easy access, over-use, contributes to emerging
AMR

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3 operational principles for SAD:
« Sustainable agricultural development (SAD) is
agricultural development that contributes to:
• improving resource efficiency,
• strengthening resilience, and
• securing social equity / responsibility
of agriculture and food systems in order to ensure food
security and nutrition for all, now and in the future »

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Cross-cutting recommendations
1. Elaborate context-specific pathways to SAD for FSN
2. Strengthen integration of livestock in national SAD
strategies
3. Foster coherence between sectoral policies and
programmes
4. Develop gender-sensitive livestock policies and
interventions
5. Better integrate SAD issues for FSN in trade policies

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Cross-cutting recommendations
6. Limit and manage excessive price volatility
7. Protect, preserve and facilitate the sharing of
livestock genetic resources
8. Improve surveillance and control of livestock
diseases
9. Promote research and development
10. Review and improve indicators and methodology
and identify data gaps

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System specific recommendations
11. Recognize the importance of smallholders mixed
farming systems for FSN and support them
12. Recognize and support the unique role of pastoral
systems
13. Promote the sustainability of commercial grazing
systems
14. Address the specific challenges of intensive livestock
systems

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Thank you for your attention
For more information about the HLPE and to download the reports,
please visit the HLPE website at: www.fao.org/cfs/cfs-hlpe